Mark the Great

Memories From a High School Coach
This is a post from Dave Clark, Mark's high school coach and good friend:

Mark Richardson, Mark was one of my favorite athletes. I coached Mark in football and wrestling. He was a hard worker on and off the field. He was always positive and had a great sense of humor. I have three short stories that I would like to share about Mark.

Mark’s senior year in football was a good one and I have one special memory of him that year. We were playing Springville on their home field and of course it was a very important game for us. Mark had been injured earlier in the season with a broken hand. He started in the game as a linebacker. The boys were playing very well and we had a lead at half time. Mark came to me at half and asked if he could play fullback the second half. I was surprised, because our starting full back was having a great game and Mark had a broken hand. I said “Mark I don’t think so right now“. Mark replied “But coach I have a goal to score a touch down this game“. I said “Well, you will have to make an interception then“. He then got teary eyed and told me that his grandma was at the game to watch him play and this might be the last time she would be there. Well I could only say no so many times so I told him he would start that half at full back. The other coaches questioned me but I said his grandma came to see him play. Springville kicked off to us and we got the ball on our 40 yard line. We handed the ball of to Mark up the middle and he ran for a 60 yard touch down. We were all very excited and we won that one. Mark came and thanked me after the game. I asked him if his grandma had watched him run? He told me that his grandma hadn’t . I said “What“? Then he told me his grandma was blind.

Mark wrestled his senior year mainly because I talked him into it. I thought that Mark would be a great wrestler because of his quickness and great strength. I was partly right. Mark was quick and very strong, but he wasn’t a very good wrestler. He worked hard and wouldn’t give up EVER, but he got beat a lot. All his matches except the one he pinned his opponent or got pinned were very close. We went to region in St. George that year. Mark had a great tournament. He won his first 2 matches and that put him in the finals against Payson. The Payson boy was a very good wrestler and we knew Mark was a big underdog. Mark was able to go 0-0 in the first round. The second round Payson chose down and escaped for 1 point and that was the second round. Mark was behind by one . Mark went down the third round and escaped for 1. The match ended in a 1-1 tie. That meant overtime. Mark would have to wrestle three 1 minute rounds. After wrestling three 2 minute rounds Mark was very tired, but so was the other guy. The score remained tied after the first round. The Payson boy chose down the second round and Mark kept him down. The score was still tied after the second round. The Payson boy took an injury time out. Mark came over and he was spent. He told me he didn’t know if he had anything left. I leaned over him and told him that he had trained hard for this moment and he had lived the word of wisdom all his life and it WILL pay off now. I told him just one explosion up to his feet would do it. Mark went back out, took the bottom position and on the whistle exploded to his feet and escaped for the winning point. Mark was a Region champion and helped his team to a Region championship.

The third story happened after Mark returned from his mission. I was down to the High school in the weight room during the summer. Mark was working for the mosquito abatement crew. He came to the coaches office and asked if he could talk to me. Mark and I visited for awhile and he said “Coach, I have a problem“. I asked him about it. He replied “I think that I am in love”! I was surprised, but I said “That’s a nice problem, who is the lucky girl”. He said “That’s the problem. She is a girl I met country dancing. She is a great dancer and we have a lot of fun together. I said what does she look like (thinking maybe that was the problem)?. He took out a picture and showed me. “Wow“! I said “She is pretty! No problem there!” I was pretty curious then and asked him what was the problem. He explained to me that she was older than him. I looked at the picture again, she looked to about 18 so couldn’t be that much older. I told Mark this and he told me that she was about 10 years older. I said “Well, so?“ “Well, what do you think?” he asked. I was still holding the picture. I replied “I don’t think that will matter at all if you love her“. My great words of wisdom were that in 10 years he would look older than her and know one would ever know. We talked about it for a little while and then he said there was just one more thing. I said “What’s that?” “She has two little girls“. I said “That could be a problem“. We talked about fatherhood and the stuff that goes with it. I told him with confidence that he would be a great Dad. I asked him if he had prayed about it and he said he had and he felt good about it. I gave him my blessing and the rest, as they say, is history. I have always looked on that conversation as one of my most cherished experiences as a Coach. I have watched that relationship grow and flourish over the years and I know all their prayers were answered. Mark was a great athlete and a great friend over the years. I will miss him greatly. Sincerely, Coach Dave Clark